Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "車" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 車 in Japanese?

車 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kɯ.ɾɯ.ma/. It means “car.” ku-ru-ma, three even beats — two flat-lipped u's and a single tap between them.

ku-ru-ma, three even beats — two flat-lipped u's and a single tap between them.

車 /kɯ.ɾɯ.ma/

kuruma

Unaccented throughout: the melody rises after ku and holds level, across three equal units. Two identical u vowels in the first two beats make lip position the thing to watch: round either one and the word takes on an English colour.

Listen: 車

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Sound it out

ku The k is barely audible as a burst, and the u after it is unrounded. Because a voiced r follows, this vowel keeps its voicing.

ru One quick strike of the tongue tip on the ridge, then a second u identical to the first — flat lips both times.

ma The lips meet for the m and open onto a bright short a. The word's only open vowel, arriving after two back ones.

Hear it in a sentence

車は新しいです。

Kuruma wa atarashii desu.

My car is new.

Listen: 車は新しいです。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

車は新しいです pairs it with 新しい, five morae ending on a long i held for two beats. So a three-beat word with nothing held runs directly into one with two beats of pure duration at its end — worth exaggerating at first to feel the difference.

Where English speakers slip

"koo-ROO-ma" rounds both u's, stresses the middle, and substitutes an English r. The rounding is doubly damaging because it happens twice in three beats. Spread the lips, tap the tongue once, and level the emphasis. Check in a mirror: your lips should not move forward at any point.